China's Ministry of Health said Tuesday that while
it is very likely that hair dye leads to allergies, the link between hair dye
and cancer is unproved.
An official with the ministry warned that the public should carefully read
labels and instructions of the hair dye products before they dye their hair.
He said most ingredients of hair dye products contain allergenic chemicals
and allergic reactions occur according to the sensitivity of the consumer's
body, which might range from partial allergy to large-scale allergy.
The official cited evaluation result by the International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France that there's no sufficient evidence to prove
the link between hair dye and carcinogencity.
The official also cited the findings of the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR),
a program supported by the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA)
in the United States, that the commonly used chemical hair dye,
paraphenylene-diamine (PPD), leads to allergies but animal tests and
epidemiological data show that PPD does not lead to malformation or cancer.
Last week, state media reported that the death of a Chinese woman who died of
leukemia might be linked to her long term hair dying. Beijing Daily Messenger
reported that chief doctor of the hematology department in Beijing Friendship
Hospital found that the patient's frequent hair dye, about once every three
months, might caused the leukemia.
Wang was quoted that mainland researchers found that people who dyed their
hair were 3.8 times more likely to develop leukemia, because PPD could enter the
bloodstream through the scalp and then pass into bone marrow.
The official with the Health Ministry said China exerts strict supervision
over hair dye products, where hair dye products are regarded as special
cosmetics, which must pass a series of tests including toxin tests, chemical
safety tests and risk evaluation of an expert panel.
The Health Ministry issued a list of hair dye ingredients that made
restrictions of ingredient use and rules of labeling. Ingredients that were not
on the list are banned by the ministry in hair dye products. The list, which
came into effect on January 1, 2006, will change the list according to latest
scientific findings.
A note of warning of possible allergies and a pre skin test is demanded on
the label by the ministry.
The ministry will conduct crackdown on illegal use of banned chemicals in
hair dye products this year, the official said.